American traveller

A VISIT TO THE MORMONS AT PROVO.-The Utah correspondent of the New York Herald sends several columns of details relative to Mormon af­fairs, the most interesting of which are an account of a visit to Provo, the town about forty miles from Salt Lake City, to which the Mormons fled before the troops entered the deserted city of Salt Lake. The Mormons are gradually returning since they find that the troops have been led to an encamp­ment in a valley nearly as far from the city as is the town of Provo. We copy the subjoined para­graphs from the letters of the correspondent of the Herald:-
“Squatted through the town of Provo, and for miles along its northern and western borders, are families from the north, in every conceivable quality, form and material of habitations. Many live in the bodies of the heavy covered wagons so frequently used in this country, by merely taking them off the wheels and placing them upon the ground. A cook­ing stove, deposited in the open air, prepares the food of the family A few families have canvas tents; many more live in tents built a la Indian, but thatch­ed with straw; others live in a hole dug in the ground, with brush piled up on either side slantingly till it connects at the top and forms a sort of roof; other brush is placed at either end to suit the necessi­ties of the weather. Some families have erected board shanties. All the temporary habitations of emigrants are very open and much exposed to the weather. This does not matter much at this season of the year: but if the weather was cold, the people would suffer severely. In the wretched little cabins, tents and sheds, I have noticed the women busily en­gaged in carrying on all the duties that ordinarily pertains to country matrons, such as making butter, cheese, raising stock, poultry, spinning, &c. Brig­ham has a square block near the centre of the city, upon which he keeps his harem. A high, close board fence has been built all around the block."
The following is an account of a religious meet­ing of the Saints, in the Temple, which was at­tended by the writer:-
"There were but very few really beautiful women present; the audience was far below par when com­pared to similar gatherings in the East. This, to some extent, is owing to the dark tan that covered the faces of almost all the women; their counte­nances also showed that they were accustomed to hard sweating labor. This is indeed a working peo­ple-men, women and children work, work always; even the Church dignitaries have rough hands and hardy faces. The great majority of the audience were foreigners. The people were dressed very clean­ly but in simple stuffs. The women were habited rather curiously and a white muslin sun-bonnet was the most popular covering for the head, but straw hats, silk hats, hoods and every other sort of head covering were brought into requisition. Crinoline is unknown in the valleys of the mountains; the thin and few skirts of the ladies drooped down close to their limbs. Their dresses, at least, do no violence to the laws of physiology. They are made very like a sack, bag, or nightgown, and fall from the shoulders straight to the feet, with little or no ingathering at the waist. The women and children whom I have seen, however, as a whole, are dressed better-apply­ing the word neither to style nor material, but to the cleanliness and entirety of their raiments-than I ex­pected to find them."

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A VISIT TO THE MORMONS AT PROVO.-The Utah correspondent of the New York Herald sends several columns of details relative to Mormon af­fairs, the most interesting of which are an account of a visit to Provo, the town about forty miles from Salt Lake City, to which the Mormons fled before the troops entered the deserted city of Salt Lake. The Mormons are gradually returning since they find that the troops have been led to an encamp­ment in a valley nearly as far from the city as is the town of Provo. We copy the subjoined para­graphs from the letters of the correspondent of the Herald:-
“Squatted through the town of Provo, and for miles along its northern and western borders, are families from the north, in every conceivable quality, form and material of habitations. Many live in the bodies of the heavy covered wagons so frequently used in this country, by merely taking them off the wheels and placing them upon the ground. A cook­ing stove, deposited in the open air, prepares the food of the family A few families have canvas tents; many more live in tents built a la Indian, but thatch­ed with straw; others live in a hole dug in the ground, with brush piled up on either side slantingly till it connects at the top and forms a sort of roof; other brush is placed at either end to suit the necessi­ties of the weather. Some families have erected board shanties. All the temporary habitations of emigrants are very open and much exposed to the weather. This does not matter much at this season of the year: but if the weather was cold, the people would suffer severely. In the wretched little cabins, tents and sheds, I have noticed the women busily en­gaged in carrying on all the duties that ordinarily pertains to country matrons, such as making butter, cheese, raising stock, poultry, spinning, &c. Brig­ham has a square block near the centre of the city, upon which he keeps his harem. A high, close board fence has been built all around the block."
The following is an account of a religious meet­ing of the Saints, in the Temple, which was at­tended by the writer:-
"There were but very few really beautiful women present; the audience was far below par when com­pared to similar gatherings in the East. This, to some extent, is owing to the dark tan that covered the faces of almost all the women; their counte­nances also showed that they were accustomed to hard sweating labor. This is indeed a working peo­ple-men, women and children work, work always; even the Church dignitaries have rough hands and hardy faces. The great majority of the audience were foreigners. The people were dressed very clean­ly but in simple stuffs. The women were habited rather curiously and a white muslin sun-bonnet was the most popular covering for the head, but straw hats, silk hats, hoods and every other sort of head covering were brought into requisition. Crinoline is unknown in the valleys of the mountains; the thin and few skirts of the ladies drooped down close to their limbs. Their dresses, at least, do no violence to the laws of physiology. They are made very like a sack, bag, or nightgown, and fall from the shoulders straight to the feet, with little or no ingathering at the waist. The women and children whom I have seen, however, as a whole, are dressed better-apply­ing the word neither to style nor material, but to the cleanliness and entirety of their raiments-than I ex­pected to find them."